Exploring a sustainability imagination : a perspective on the integrating and visioning role of stories and symbolism in sustainability through an alternative education case study

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(1)Exploring a Sustainability Imagination A Perspective on the Integrating and Visioning Role of Stories and Symbolism in Sustainability through an Alternative Education Case Study by Christelle Beyers. Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of M.Phil. (Sustainable Development Planning and Management) at the University of Stellenbosch. Supervisor: Eve Annecke March 2008.

(2) Declaration I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is my own original work and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it at any university for a degree.. Signature:………………………………. Date:………………………….. Copyright ©2008 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved. ii.

(3) Abstract In a modern world of fragmentation and embedded dualisms, access to the imagination and creativity seems minimal, especially in science. Human beings and nature, science and the imagination (art), and spirit and matter (body) – these dualisms permeate our sciences and other disciplines, as well as the way we envision the future and educate children about the environment. Sustainability positions a key debate for the future and mediates intergenerational equity (it thus in a way captures the future). Sustainability further proposes an ecological approach wherein systems thinking, holism and the exploration of new (extended) forms of knowledge are subtly starting to reshape the future outlook of the planet. A personal reflection on my own alternative learning process with the Sustainability Institute (SI) resulted in a deep concern and intrigue about the symbolic base of sustainability learning. Imagination, art (stories) and symbols played an intrinsic role in how I integrated many of the empirical and non-empirical, as well as scientific and meta-physical, aspects of the learning. These intrigues led me to explore the nurturing education opportunities that might exist for children to engage with the imagination, art and alternative aspects of education as integrative aspects in learning. Waldorf education claims to use stories in this regard. Waldorf education – together with a review of the role of environmental education – is the case study of this research. This is an inherently transdisciplinary study and, although literature in the separate fields abounds, a comprehensive literature review conducted for this study revealed a gap in research related to the interface between areas of symbolism, sustainability and education (“symbolism-in-sustainability-in-education”). The study is underpinned by the following fields: • Sustainability (with a strong focus on environmental ethics) • Literature (traditional stories) • Psychology (psychoanalytical and environmental psychology) • Education (environmental, Waldorf and finally sustainability or ecological education) This study thus explores the role of the imagination and symbolism, both being ontologically recognised, as well as stories to integrate some of the dualisms prevalent in our modern world, dualisms that are contributing to the reigning ecological crisis. In addition, it focuses on the role of these functionalities to access and open up other forms of knowing in science (with particular application to the built environment/ and planning), which supports the claims of sustainability and sustainability science. I conclude by briefly highlighting a pattern that proposes a way of connecting the ideas in this study in support of ecological education (the future) – and thus sustainability – in an enduring and deep-seated way that is intrinsically human[nature].. iii.

(4) Opsomming In ons moderne wêreld van fragmentasie en ingeburgerde dualisme is toegang tot die verbeelding en kreatiwiteit (skepping) nie algemeen nie, veral nie in die wetenskap nie. Hierdie dualismes sluit in: skeidings tussen mens en natuur; wetenskap en kuns (vebeelding); gees en liggaam, en dit deurtrek ons wetenskaplike dissiplines of vakrigtings, asook die manier waarop ons die toekoms en die onderwys van ons kinders, in terme van die omgewing en natuur, benader. Volhoubaarheid positioneer ’n kern diskoers oor die toekoms, spesifiek ’n onderhandeling oor die gelykheid tussen generasies. Volhoubaarheid stel verder ’n ekologiese benadering voor waarin sisteemdenke, holisme en die ondersoek van nuwe vorme van kennis subtiel besig is om die toekoms van die planeet te herskep. My persoonlike, alternatiewe, leerervaring van volhoubaarheid deur die Sustainability Institute (SI) het my baie nuuskierig gemaak oor die simboliese basis van volhoubaarheid. Verbeelding, kuns (stories) en simbole het ’n wesenlike rol gespeel in hoe ek baie van die empiriese en nie-empiriese, asook wetenskaplike en meta-fisiese aspekte van leer en volhoubaarheid geïntegreer het. Hierdie basis van ondersoek (nuuskierigheid) het my die onderrigsgeleenthede laat bevragateken wat hierdie “alternatiewe” aspekte van leer (verbeelding/ kuns) insluit. Waldorf skole eien dat hulle in die opsig stories gebruik. Hierdie eienskap van Waldorf onderrig, gesien saam met ’n oorsig van omgewingsopvoedkunde, vorm die gevallestudie van hierdie tesis. Ek het ’n wesenlik transdissiplinêre studie onderneem. Alhoewel daar baie literatuur in die afsonderlike vakrigtings bestaan, het ’n volledige literatuuroorsig en analise, wat gedoen is om die studie te onderstuen, ’n gaping uitgewyws aangaande die raakvlakke tussen simboliek, volhoubaarheid en opvoeding (“simboliek-in-volhoubaarheid-inopvoeding”). Die studie is onderbou deur die volgende vakrigtings: • Volhoubaarheid (gefokus op omgewingsetiek) • Literatuur (tradisionele stories) • Sielkunde (psigo-analise en omgewingsielkunde) • Onderrig/ opvoeding (omgewingsopvoedkunde, Waldorf onderrig en volhoubare/ Ekologiese-opvoedkunde) Daarom ondersoek hierdie studie die rol van verbeelding en simboliek (albei ontologies erken), asook stories, wat sommige van ons moderne wêreld se dualismes integreer. Die studie is gedoen in die groter geheel van volhoubaarheid en die moontlikheid daarvan om die toekoms te herskep en te verwesenlik. Dit fokus ook op die rol van hierdie aspekte om ander vorme van leer en kennis in die wetenskap te ontdek, wat uiteindelik volhoubaarheid, en die wetenskap van volhoubaarheid, steun. Ek sluit die studie af deur ‘n patroon uit te lig wat die kern idees van die studie – in verband met ekologiese-opvoedkunde, asook volhoubaarheid – ondersteun. ’n Patroon wat blywende en diep-gewortelde mens-natuur skakels uitwys.. iv.

(5) Acknowledgement and thanks to: •. Eve Annecke, my supervisor and Director of the Sustainability Institute (SI), for insight and gentle support in the process of conducting and documenting this research. Your immense experience in the area of child education, as well as your lectures in leadership and ethics, is inspiring. Together with Professor Mark Swilling, for an extra-ordinarily meaningful learning process in the form of the (M.Phil.) Sustainable Development Planning and Management degree.. •. The CSIR for affording me funding and time to make further study possible; I gratefully recognise and appreciate this investment in my future.. •. The interviewees who participated in this research: Helen van Zyl – for introducing me to Waldorf principles and sharing your insight and experience in the Waldorf education system. Heleen de Villiers – for reading me stories (an unknown luxury in adult life!) and for sharing your wisdom and immense experience in traditional stories (in the Waldorf context) with me. Mark Swilling – for providing inputs. Your reflection on a personal Waldorf education, now lived in the sustainability arena, is invaluable.. •. My family for your prayers and support, never taken for granted, as well as my friends for wholesome meals, IT support and encouragement.. v.

(6) Dedication I dedicate my learning and research process to Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. This little potted plant, on the front stoep of my house in Johannesburg, dies every winter, miserably and, what seems to be, completely. I keep on watering it though. And against all apparent odds, every spring – just as I am about to give up hope for its continued existence – it sprouts small, fresh, bright green buds and little leaves. The telltale purple, lilac and white flowers of yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is this transformative, gentle power of Nature that I gratefully acknowledge in reflecting on the process of carrying out and documenting this research. To my sister, who intricately deals with the vulnerable issue of children and the future every day.. vi.

(7) Contents Page Declaration ................................................................................................................................ ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii Opsomming .............................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgement and thanks to: ............................................................................................. v Dedication ................................................................................................................................ vi Contents Page .......................................................................................................................... vii SECTION 1 ............................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 2. This Study.............................................................................................................................. 3 2.1 “Rescue Mission Planet Earth” ...................................................................................... 3 2.2 Document Outline ........................................................................................................... 5 3. Points of Departure ................................................................................................................ 6 3.1 Unique and Creative Learning ........................................................................................ 7 3.2 Opposition to Current World View ................................................................................. 8 3.3 The Human-Nature Connection through Stories ........................................................... 10 4. Methodology (Process of Reflection) .................................................................................. 11 4.1 The “Patterns That Connect” ........................................................................................ 12 4.2 Reflection through My M.Phil. Process ........................................................................ 12 4.3 Combined Views ........................................................................................................... 13 4.3.1 The Methodological Conundrum ........................................................................... 16 4.4 Process of “Insight Gathering”...................................................................................... 16 5. Transitioning to the Sustainability “Patterns of Learning” (Sustainability Framework)..... 17 6. Setting the Scene: The Wisdom of Nature – A Swahili Story Set in the Context of Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar ............................................................................................................ 18 6.1 Reflecting on the “Snake” Story ................................................................................... 19 6.1.1 Science[fiction] ...................................................................................................... 20 SECTION 2 ............................................................................................................................. 21 7. Introducing Section 2 .......................................................................................................... 21 8. Rationale for the Study (Content of Reflection) .................................................................. 22 9. The Pattern that Connects the Sustainability Items of Learning ......................................... 23 9.1 Sustainable Development .............................................................................................. 23 9.1.1 Sustainability and Social-Ecological Systems: the Narrative Link ....................... 26 10. Enter the Story… ............................................................................................................... 26 10.1 Environmental Ethics in Sustainability ....................................................................... 27 10.2 The Globalisation Debate ............................................................................................ 29 10.2.1 The Alchemy of Imagination ............................................................................... 30 10.3 The Complexity Debate .............................................................................................. 31 10.3.1 Pragmatic Ethics: A Way Forward ...................................................................... 33 10.3.2 “Bottom-up Ethics” ............................................................................................. 34 SECTION 3 ............................................................................................................................. 37 11. Introducing Section 3 ........................................................................................................ 37 12. Introduction: South Africa’s Environmental Education Scenario ..................................... 37 12.1 From Environmental Education to a Positive Future Image of Sustainability ............ 40 13. Waldorf Schools: Guiding the Spiritual Human Being to the Spiritual Universe ............. 40 13.1 Method of Teaching and Connecting With the World ................................................ 40 13.2 Fantasy and Imagination ............................................................................................. 41 14. Rudolph Steiner’s (1861-1925) “Stairway to Heaven” ..................................................... 42 14.1 Education directed at the whole child ......................................................................... 43. vii.

(8) 14.1.1 The developmental stages .................................................................................... 43 15. From 1919 to 2007: Back to the Future? ........................................................................... 44 16. Imagination and Fantasy for Enduring “Knowledge” Frameworks? ................................ 45 17. Main Themes in Waldorf Education ................................................................................. 45 17.1 Imagination: The Entry Point and Foundation for Waldorf Education and Teaching 45 17.2 Waldorf Methodology and Curriculum Designed To Connect Children with Imagination ......................................................................................................................... 46 17.3 Stories (Via the Imagination) Connect Children with Nature ..................................... 46 17.4 Nature is embedded In the Child’s Leaning of Him/ Herself and the Broader Environment ........................................................................................................................ 47 17.5 Nature in Waldorf Education Essentially a Transdisciplinary Concept ...................... 48 17.6 Waldorf Education Promotes Care and Responsibility for Nature in Children .......... 49 17.7 The Archetypal Symbols in Stories Speak Directly To Children ............................... 49 18. Coping With the Future ..................................................................................................... 50 18.1 Some Concluding Connections ................................................................................... 50 SECTION 4 ............................................................................................................................. 52 19. Introducing Section 4 ........................................................................................................ 52 20. Play-off between Depths and Surface: Unconscious and Conscious ................................ 53 21. The Work of Carl Gustav Jung .......................................................................................... 53 21.1 Lost in Translation ...................................................................................................... 54 21.2 Found In the Dream .................................................................................................... 54 21.2.1 Sustainability: Devoid of Emotional Meaning .................................................... 55 21.3 Archetypal Symbols and Images ................................................................................. 55 22. The Role of Symbols ......................................................................................................... 56 22.1 Archetypes and the Environment ................................................................................ 57 22.1.1 Symbols [Re]Enchant and [Re]Connect Us with Nature ..................................... 57 22.1.2 The Emotional Load of Symbols Brings Change ................................................ 57 22.1.3 Archetypal Symbols Show the Way to an Integrated, Extended Science ............ 58 23. Depth Psychology and Imagination................................................................................... 58 23.1 Imagine........................................................................................................................ 58 23.1.1 One More Level of Depth .................................................................................... 59 23.1.2 Before Grounding Theory in Current Discourse: All Roads Lead To Faust? ..... 59 24. Environmental Psychology ................................................................................................ 60 24.1 Jungian Psychology in South Africa ........................................................................... 61 25. Symbolic Frameworks Related To World Views .............................................................. 62 25.1 Changing the Current World View and Its Patterns .................................................... 63 25.2 Remembering Indigenous Knowledge ........................................................................ 64 25.2.1 The Personal Universal ........................................................................................ 65 26. Metaphors and Interfaces: Between the Human and Natural Worlds the Ecology Fails and Humankind Flounders ............................................................................................................. 65 26.1 The Music of the Night: Harmonising Human Beings and Nature ............................. 66 26.2 The Psychological and Symbolic Landscape .............................................................. 66 SECTION 5 ............................................................................................................................. 68 27. Introducing Section 5 ........................................................................................................ 68 28. Reaching for the Moon: a Brief History of Traditional Stories ......................................... 69 28.1 Traditional Stories ....................................................................................................... 69 28.1.1 The Nature of Being Human in Nature ................................................................ 69 28.2 Stories Reclaim Our Heritage: A Message from the President ................................... 71 29. Knowing Through Lineage: The Archetypal Message in Stories ..................................... 71 29.1 Stories Make Sense in a Complex World ................................................................... 72 30. A Story of Imagination ...................................................................................................... 72 30.1 Stories and Imagination: “Extend” Science and Complement Sustainability ............. 73 30.2 From Stories: The Vision of a New (Sustainable) Future ........................................... 74. viii.

(9) 31. Stories and Archetypes ...................................................................................................... 76 31.1 The Archetypal Planning Link .................................................................................... 77 31.1.1 A Vision of the Sustainable Future in Planning Through Stories ........................ 77 SECTION 6: Towards a Conclusion ....................................................................................... 80 32. Building a Sustainable Future with Imagination and Stories............................................. 80 32.1 Integrated Perspective on Sustainability Questions .................................................... 81 32.2 Sustainability Education for an Ecological World View ............................................ 82 32.2.1 Ecological Thinking in Education ....................................................................... 83 32.2.2 Ecological Learning Creates Learning Communities: Learning Communities Create Ecological Learning ............................................................................................ 84 SECTION 7: Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 87 32.3 A Pattern of Learning that Could Support [a] Sustainability [Imagination] ............... 87 32.3.1 The Imaginative Framework ................................................................................ 88 32.3.2 Stories and Symbols Support Transformation of World Views .......................... 89 32.3.3 Stories and Symbols Open Up Abstract Landscapes for Exploration of New Forms of Knowledge (What I Would Like to Call the Landscape of the Imagination).. 90 32.3.4 Symbolic Framework in Stories: A Pattern of “Good” towards Nature? ............ 91 33. Possible Research Topics Stemming from This Research ................................................ 92 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 93 ANNEXURES ....................................................................................................................... 101 Annexure 1: Semi-Structured Interview schedule with Helen Van Zyl ................................ 101 Annexure 2: Structured Interview schedule with Mark Swilling .......................................... 104 Annexure 3: All Things Are Connected – A Nature Tale from Africa (Zaire) ..................... 105 Annexure 4: Turtle Returns the Gift – An Earth Tale from Japan ........................................ 106 Annexure 5: The Children of Wax – An African Tale .......................................................... 108 Annexure 6: The Savage Skylark – A Nature Tale from Portugal ........................................ 110. ix.

(10) SECTION 1 1. Introduction The Eden Project in Cornwall in the United Kingdom is currently being heralded as the eighth wonder of the world. This project aims to reconnect human beings and their ecological support base. Biomes (futuristic hothouses) contain plants from across the world, and humankind is invited to partake in fantastic exhibitions of ecology, technology and art in order to make or re-experience this connection, a connection that I would like to call human[nature]. This massive demonstration essentially includes art to facilitate this connection. Art, as “found objects” and sculptures made from natural and/ or recycled industrial materials, symbolises the divide or new-found connection. “The arts, in their broadest sense, are fundamental to Eden. We aim to blur the perceived line between the creative and the scientific, and use art to illustrate the vital link between plants and people”.1 For children, especially, science and art merge in order to facilitate sustainability thinking – “[we use] creative trails that inspire sustainable thinking – teaching about the origins of products and objects that we use each day”.2 What started out as a fantasy and vision of demonstrating sustainable living, ecological design innovation and a [re]connection between human beings and plants, is now a tangible humannature expression that could lead thousands of people to understand their inherent links to their natural resource base.. This is a transdisciplinary study, underpinned by the following fields: • Sustainability (in itself a transdisciplinary field, with application in the built environment) • Literature (storytelling, education and meaning) • Psychology (in which I have rooted symbolism) • Environmental ethics (which could be regarded as a sub-field of sustainability – or the other way around) • Education (with a view to sustainability education). In a modern world of fragmentation and embedded dualisms, the access to imagination and creativity seems minimal. This is a world that Durand (2000) describes as follows: “The basic alienation and disaster on which Western science and metaphysics are formed lie in these dualisms. Both memory and imagination were confined to the realm of the superfluous, [the] incoherent, and were not regarded as part of rational discourse” (Durand, 2000: 56). In the time of the romantic revival or romanticism, towards the end of the eighteenth century, “imagination” was, however, already thought to provide access to knowledge and truth, and in contemporary philosophy “imagination” is thought to exist as the notion of “imaginativeness”, something that sits within and across inner mental activities and observable behaviour (Speake (ed.), 1984: 164). This study draws on these characteristics of the imagination: • It could possibly bridge one (or more) of the dualisms prevalent in modern day science and society (for example, the split between imagination and rational discourse). • It recognises other forms of knowing that could lead to a more comprehensive reflection on what it means to be a complete human being in a world in ecological crisis. • Its transdisciplinary position within and across many disciplines, some of which critically underpin this study. 1 2. http://www.edenproject.com/education/474.html - accessed on 26/10/2007 http://www.edenproject.com/childrens/index.html - accessed on 26/10/2007. 1.

(11) The aim of this study is to explore how this rather marginalised form of knowing – through appropriate education, symbolism and stories – could integrate and give credence to some of the basic aspects of sustainability. Specifically: • Its consistent future-orientation through the mention of “future generations”. • Notions of envisioning alternative, sustainable futures (that encompass technology and humanity). Our Common Future or The Brundtland Report emerged, as one of many such documents, from a number of global conferences held on the environment and development in Stockholm (1972) and the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (1992). This report captures probably the most well-known expressions of humanity, development and the environment in the future. It clearly outlines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As such it requires the promotion of values that encourage consumption standards that are within the bounds of the ecologically possible and to which all could reasonably aspire” (WCED, 1987: 43). Although this definition calls for limits to growth, the future focus here is also on the ability of future generations (children) to deal with the responsibility of living in, and caring for, the Earth that they will inherit. Chapter 25 of the Agenda 21 that deals with Children and Youth in Sustainable Development, states that: • Children in developed and developing countries alike are highly aware of environmental issues. • Children have to be actively drawn into environmental decision-making. • Children are the most vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation. (UNCED Agenda 21, 1992) Sustainability closely aligns with the field of environmental education from this intragenerational perspective. It is thus not surprising that characteristics of “future studies”, explored in environmental education by Hicks and Holden (2007), inform this study. Sustainability regularly uses scenarios and/ or modelling to deal with, for example, climate change scenarios, as well as the many manifestations of limits to growth encountered in the sustainability debate (Hicks and Holden, 2007: 502). “‘The future’ cannot be ‘studied’ because ‘the future’ does not exist. Futures studies, studies ideas about the future (what I usually call ‘images of the future’) which each individual and group has. The images often serve as the basis of actions in the present. They often change over one’s lifetime, and may differ between men and woman, western and non-western images.” (Dator, 2005, quoted in Hicks and Holden, 2007: 502) A growing, but under-researched, awareness for alternative futures in education is emerging. In a study of youths and the future in the United Kingdom (UK), Hicks and Holden note – in line with the Agenda 21 – that environmental concerns were paramount in the minds of children and the youth (Hicks and Holden, 2007: 502-503). Although children have difficulty defining the future from an adult perspective, they show great concern for current environmental and ecological issues and can most definitely envisage a world they would like to grow up in (Hicks and Holden, 2007: 504). The vision of a sustainable future for all expressed as, for example, sustainable cities and settlements, thus critically involves children. In sustainability parlance, many visions for the future are technologically driven. Inayatullah (1993: 236, in Hicks and Holden, 2007: 501), however, notes that futures studies in environmental education cross two modes of knowledge – namely the “technical concerned with predicting the future and the humanist concerned with developing a good society”. Many authors (Landry, 2006; McDonough and Braungart, 2002:. 2.

(12) 15; Sandercock, 2003: 162) call for this vision to extend beyond current knowledge that prompts change, i.e. beyond efficiencies, an integrated ecological base, sustainable technologies and sustainable transport planning (as examples). They call for “a different approach”, “different ways of thinking”, “something different” to actually make the change towards a sustainable future. Landry (2006: 11) notes that a sustainable city in this regard is also “psychologically and emotionally sustaining”. McDonough and Braungart (2002: 17), in addition, ponder the inclusion of human creativity, spirit and culture in quantitative ideas of ecological footprinting and waste management. From a development-planning angle, Higgins and Morgan (2000: 121) argue for creativity as a critical planning skill in responding to global issues (like sustainability). Sandercock (2003: 162) probably expresses this reconciled technical-humanist position with regard to the future the best: “There are a thousand and one urban reconciliation and regeneration stories and urban ecological dreams that can be dreamed, and a thousand tiny empowerments that can emerge by pursuing each of these dreams. This is how we build the sustainable city” [emphasis added].. 2. This Study 2.1 “Rescue Mission Planet Earth” 3 This is the very appropriate and catchy tile for the Children’s Edition of Agenda 21 (Peace Child, 1994). This book was inspired and written by children, from over 100 countries, for children, to express the contents of Agenda 21 to children worldwide, and inspire them to action. Interestingly, this document reveals a glimpse into Al Gore’s early days as environmental campaigner. “As chairman of the Space Sub-committee in the Senate, I strongly urged the establishment of a Mission to Planet Earth, a worldwide monitoring system staffed by children [and] designed to rescue the global environment.” Albert Gore Jnr, quoted in Peace Child (1994: 7) This children’s document is an endless and fascinating journey of colour, art, poetry and factual rigour(!) that expresses children’s understanding of the global ecological crisis. Having paged through the formal Agenda 21, I would go so far as to say that this document gives immense meaning to an otherwise cumbersome, lengthy and wordy formal Agenda 21 document. This impression could be due to the internalised interpretations of the global ecological crisis by children (who will inherit the Earth), as well as the contextual (geographical and ecological) nature of the children’s interpretations. What struck me most was: • The immense insight and concern with which the children interpreted the ecological crisis. • The vehicle of expression, namely art, poetry, mental maps to articulate their comprehensive empirical and non-empirical understanding. As such, one child notes: “There is only one atmosphere. It has no borders. We don’t want poisonous gases floating around. We must react. All together.” (Child from India, in Peace Child, 1994: 13) They, in particular, express the future perspective of education very succinctly and strikingly. TO WANT + TO KNOW = TO ACT (Peace Child, 1994: 74). 3. Title of the Children’s Edition of Agenda 21, 1994 (published on Earth Day). 3.

(13) This statement cleverly integrates the ethical and equity aspects associated with education in Agenda 21, namely to “make environment and development education available to people of all ages” (Peace Child, 1994: 73). Their perspective on education is written from a brown agenda (anthropocentric, to be explained later) perspective. In other words, lack of education is seen as a stumbling block to development. It does take a strong developing country focus, though, in stating that “all people, both adults and kids, have to get primary schooling before they can be taught about [the] environment and development.” (Ibid.) Children and the youth in this global environmental context seem to emerge very strongly through themes of children’s rights, rights to participation and to be heard, and rights to a secure future where topics like birth control, for example, feature as an indication of unbalanced population ratios (Peace Child, 1994: 80). Apart from this concerted global effort, it would seem that if any cognisance is taken of children in sustainability, it is usually through mainstream environmental education, lists of (pre-empting ethical) do’s and don’ts, conservation experiences, and/ or frivolous stories with self-evident “green” messages. The kind of imagination and creativity explored through this study, however, is of the kind that is nurturing for children and may generate in human beings enduring connections that support an ecological or holistic world view. These include mindbody, human-nature and human-technology connections. The step from these connections to deep ecology is a small one, as it is motivated by deep-seated and intrinsic views on the value of nature and humans-in-nature or humans-as-nature. The planet’s crisis may thus be solved not only by a number of technical, rational and obvious fixes, but also, possibly, by an approach that draws on an integrated way of being, knowing and doing in the world. I would like to argue that the crisis of ecology we face today might very well be a crisis of imagination. In this regard the role of ethics, and in particular environmental ethics, is paramount. Although sustainable development focuses on the impact of development on the ecology, “sustainable development has become strongly associated with a moral imperative” (Hattingh, 2002: 5). In addition, one of the “essential learnings” – identified by Tasmania’s Department of Education (2002) – in the school curriculum is “personal futures”, which include educational experiences for children that will equip them to deal with the multiplicity of ethical dilemmas of the world we live in (Hicks and Holden, 2007: 503). One such approach of being, knowing (learning) and doing (ethics) is thus suggested through the connections made in this study. An area, seemingly little probed in current sustainability discourse, is that of the interrelated aspects of symbolism, imagination and stories as key integrative and sense-making functionalities. Sustainability, in this regard, does not fully engage with appropriate education methods that absorb these functionalities in order to overcome the legacy of mind/ body dualities and (related) ecological degradation entrenched in the modern world view. These issues are explored as an underpinning thread running throughout this study. My M.Phil. (Sustainable Development Planning and Management)4 learning process seemed to open up other ways of making deep-seated human[nature] connections and use imagination and creativity to integrate the following aspects of sustainability: • Qualitative and quantitative • Tangible and metaphysical • Theoretical and practical • Past, present and future • Social and natural science.. 4. Henceforth referred to as M.Phil.. 4.

(14) In continuously reflecting on my own learning, I realised that I consciously and unconsciously sought for meaning by engaging my imagination and creativity in the study process. I did this by integrating core theoretical and scientific learning, either with a story and/ or art. Initially I was quite sceptical as to how one might convey sustainability with “meaning” to children through appropriate education methodologies. This study will thus explore ways that support and nurture any steps that our children will take to develop imagination in the pursuit of a sustainable future. It is proposed that sustainability, storytelling and symbolism are expressions in contrast to the dominant modern world view. This world view is failing our planet and its people and is not providing a complete, integrated perspective of dealing with the current ecological crisis. We need to envision a new future through our children and the adults that they will become, and it is critical that education integrates this aspect of creating a connection between human beings and nature. An education approach that claims to create spaces for children’s imagination, like the Waldorf system, is thus critical in taking these connections into the future. As Annecke (2006) rightly notes, “we cannot leave sustainability just for adulthood”. The education study will thus be explored for the following links: • Children’s natural inclination of giving meaning to the world (imagination, stories, etc.). • Education methods that encourage and make space for the current shift towards the new ecological world view. • Education that allows the creation of an enduring, positive image of sustainability into the future for children (and the adults that they become). The future-orientation and visioning aspects of sustainability thus call on imagination and creativity that the human race has applied for centuries to evolve. Imagination that according to Durand (2000) resulted in technological feats like the landing on the moon. The following M.Phil. modules inform this study: • Sustainable Development • Complexity Thinking and Systems Theory • Leadership and Ethics • Globalisation. Key learning from these modules is expressed as a “pattern of learning” (to be explained in Section 2) or sustainability framework that serves as platform from which the rest of the study is explored. In order to make the connections, I explore the role of symbolism and stories in opening up spaces for the imagination and creativity in the sustainability discourse as it applies to “future-oriented” education process, as well as in a built environment application, e.g. geographically and spatially. Stories provide a language that carries these symbols across modernistic dualisms into the sustainability classroom – which is fertile ground from which to imagine a sustainable future. This study is thus one reflection on how the first-mentioned fields interface to address an integrated vision of sustainability that could speak to future generations through a form of education that inherently supports human[nature], and does not perpetuate a mechanistic, modern world view that (amongst others) has contributed to the current, unprecedented ecological crisis. 2.2 Document Outline Carl Gustav Jung’s work and processes were seen as radical for his time. In (gentle) opposition to reigning religious and scientific frameworks, and hugely alternative in terms of dealing with intangibles in knowledge and science (the unconscious, symbols, dreams), his work was highly transdisciplinary. In addition he, very sensitively, regarded the whole human being in his therapy (Jacobi, 1968). This unique approach and view on the world and humanity made his work particularly layered in understanding and rich in interpretation (albeit sometimes difficult to understand in totality). John Freeman’s view on the Jungian 5.

(15) process and approach, in Man and his Symbols (Jung, 1964), is very insightful as to how to interpret a research process that might not always be regarded as mainstream. “Jung’s arguments (and those of his colleagues) spiral upward over his subject like a bird circling a tree. At first, near the ground, it sees only a confusion of leaves and branches. Gradually, as it circles higher and higher, the recurring aspects of the tree form a wholeness and relate to their surroundings.” (Freeman, in Jung, 1964: 14) In Section one, in which we most probably see only a muddle of branches and grass, I motivate the study and defend my research methodology. I provide a brief description of the research parameters, process and “insight gathering” aspects. This section ends off with a traditional story – as a challenge – that sets the scene for the rest of the document. Section two outlines the rationale for the study that captures the essence of the “pattern of learning” or sustainability framework developed throughout the M.Phil. course. This section moves from an environmental ethics interpretation, since action for sustainability (decisions) and change are key themes that emerge throughout the other sections of the study. Section three frames the case study, of which environmental education within the futureorientation aspects of sustainability, forms part. It specifically explores one example within the humanistic paradigm of education, namely the Waldorf school system. This section looks at the potential contribution of this education system in nurturing the imagination of children in support of sustainability and an enduring human[nature] connection. Sections four and five delve deep into the research topic and, together with Section three, form the basis of the research. Section four explores the deep, underpinning psychological aspects of a human[nature] connection and its associated symbols within people and space (geography) from the angles of analytical and environmental psychology. Section five pulls this discussion into the realm of stories. It looks at the type and role of stories/ narrative in supporting a human[nature] connection – as basis of sustainability. Section six reflects on the research from a built environment and planning nuance, by drawing on ecological symbolism and sustainability education literature. Section seven, in which I hope to show a more comprehensive tree, I conclude and summarize the research findings and suggest further research topic(s).. 3. Points of Departure The concepts of this study were difficult both to pin down and, even more, to describe accurately in terms of how I naturally comprehend them. This conundrum I found myself in at the start – and the end – of documenting this research could possibly be narrowed down to the following contributing factors: • Firstly, the comprehensive nature of the fields I am working with – sustainability, psychology (for the roots of symbolism and imagination), literature (for stories and narrative), and environmental education (as case study). These fields per se are already complex, BIG and rich in underpinning fundamentals, theory, and supporting and counter-arguments. • Secondly, the positioning of my research within and across the interfaces of these fields. • Thirdly, the reflective nature of these fields. Each field provides content for continued reflection and increased understanding (that far exceeds the time parameters of this study). One could not possibly hope to adequately represent the totality of, for example, Carl Gustav Jung (1961; 1964) or Arne Neass’s (1972) Deep Ecology theories and 6.

(16) contributions in a mini-thesis. I thus tread very carefully and humbly where great minds have already beamed the way, and realise that this study might just be the beginning of a much bigger, continuing exploration. In order to proceed I have thus had to drastically narrow down complex fields, theories and concepts, and I did this by exploring patterns of thought in these fields that speak to each other, as well as to the interrelated topics of this study – namely symbolism, story, ecology and [sustainability] education. The fields incorporated in this research are not studied for their own scientific/ theoretic contribution or depth per se. The aim is rather to explore the relationships and interfaces of these fields as they intersect with key sustainability learning (see Section 2). This approach might also provide an extended perspective on science to include “other forms of knowing” that are pertinent to the sustainability debate. From the core field of this study, sustainability, comes a new science, namely sustainability science. Sustainability science is inherently transdisciplinary, deals with complexity and recognises the interface characteristics of research. It thus provides a scientific framework for this study. Sustainability science is characterised by: • Use-inspired basic research • Location at the interface between human society and its sustaining natural environment • Focus on the resilience of complex social ecological systems (SES) • Transdisciplinary approach to understanding system complexity and resilience • Acknowledgement of multiple epistemologies (extending beyond objectivity of science to include the subjectivity of alternative knowledge systems) • Emphasis on learning and adaptation. (Burns et al., 2006: 2) Leopold in his A Sand County Almanac, for example, extended soil science to include the values of the entire biotic community. His ethic of extension enlarged the “boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively, the land” (Palmer, 2003: 24). Jung’s view on science was radical for the time. He purposefully worked unsystematically (Jung, 1961, in Laas, 2004) and not according to reigning religious and scientific frameworks. He extended science through the fundamental recognition and inclusion of the unconscious, dreams and archetypal symbols in his “science”, a realm where rationality and scientific certainty do not feature (Jung, 1964). “I cannot employ the language of science to trace this process of growth in myself, for I cannot experience myself as a scientific problem” (Jung, 1961: 17, in Laas, 2004). In addition, Bateson (1972), Capra (1996), Holling (1986, in Berkes and Folke, 2000) call for an integrated, extended view on science, where the unexpected, or surprising ecological processes also feature. As with Jung and Leopold, their views on extending empirical, rational science stem from a transdisciplinary background, interests and studies, including sound scientific knowledge in the fields of theology, archaeology, natural sciences, philosophy, alchemy, medicine, psychology and astrology (amongst others). My own journey through this M.Phil. provided for many learning surprises, discoveries, transdisciplinary wonder and growth. 3.1 Unique and Creative Learning This study [topic] emerged from a reflection on my own M.Phil. learning process. The M.Phil. is rooted in the creative and alternative learning environment created by the Sustainability Institute (SI) in collaboration with the School of Public Management and Planning (University of Stellenbosch). This learning process and the SI are embedded in the Lynedoch Eco Village, Stellenbosch and incorporate the following: • Morning community work (organic farm, school, gardening. etc.). 7.

(17) • • • • •. Self-reflection and reflection on the learning content and process in journals Group work Formal lectures and excursions Focused individual research assignments Thesis.. Working on the organic farm made the deepest impression on me in terms of connecting with nature and sustainability concepts. It provided me with symbolic and physical space in which to reflect on the week’s learning. The Sustainability Institute, in this regard, thus provides a uniquely different – and very connected – way of learning about sustainability. From this experience with alternative education, I became deeply aware of the symbolic nature of my learning, which straddles the empirical and non-empirical, scientific and creative, imaginative aspects of sustainability. This unique interaction with sustainability made me wonder what is “out there” in terms of an appropriate education system that could hold or mimic this alternative learning process for children. As such, I knew that Waldorf education made certain claims in working with stories and the spiritual aspects of nature. This position of enquiry thus positions the study amid the fields that inform it. 3.2 Opposition to Current World View Many topics unknown at the time of writing, like sustainability, are illuminated by Gregory Bateson’s work because of its transdisciplinary nature, “both in their significance and vulnerability to distortion” (Bateson, M.C., 2000: xii). His epistemology opposes the materialistic epistemologies of academic departments and focuses on an ecologically integrated view. “Ideally, the relationship between the patterns of the biological world and our understanding of it would be one of congruence, of fit” [emphasis added]. He saw this fit as broader and “more pervasive” than the ability to predict based on simplification and selective attention (Bateson, 1972: 186). Bateson’s work in this regard is likened to “imaginative recognition.” The current, modern (also Western, neo-liberal, Cartesian, Newtonian, Aristotelian) world view – and its related lifestyles and development model(s) – has largely contributed to the ecological degradation that characterises our planet today (Bateson, 1972, Gill, 2002; McDonough and Braungart, 2002; Monbiot, 2006). Current ecological limits aligned with limitless development pressures (Dresner, 2002; Mebratu, 1998; Sachs, 1995) and human impact (IPCC, 2007; Stern, 2006) has resulted in a situation where the global environment/ ecology is degrading rapidly and responding in unanticipated ways. A situation that requires immediate and long-term sustainability prioritisation (Monbiot, 2006; McDonough and Braungart, 2002; Norberg-Hodge et al., 2000; Stern, 2006). “Curtailing climate change must, in other words, become the project we put before all others.” (Monbiot, 2006: 15) Scientific thought – until the end of the nineteen the century – was underpinned by a Newtonian (in line with Aristotelian philosophy) epistemology.5 As with every epistemology, this epistemology is underpinned by a specific ontology or perspective about what exists (Moore, 1997: 584). In this regard, the Newtonian perspective upheld an objective reality that could be discovered and thus studied through objective observation in order to discover the “truth”. Newtonian thought is based on the following assumptions: • Reductionism – whereby phenomena are reduced to their most basic elements in order to understand their functioning (the whole).. 5 An epistemology refers to a particular way of thinking, according to which we know and understand the world around us (Meyer et al., 1997: 583).. 8.

(18) •. Linear causality – whereby it is assumed that elements are linked through linear causal relationships. • Neutral objectivity – whereby the “truth” can only be discovered when objects are being observed objectively and are not being influenced by the observer. (Moore, 1997: 585). This epistemology influenced all the major disciplines of the time, natural science, psychology and education. Cilliers (1998, 2000) associates this epistemology with the modern world view, whereby the world, our understanding of it and our functioning in it is subjected to rules of reductionism, linearity and neutral objectivity. A world view implies that our actions and outcomes of this understanding of the world, “truth” and reality will be in line with how we perceive reality. The main characteristic of the modern world view, based on reductionism, is a deep-seated fragmentation and disconnect between human beings and nature. This disconnect is supported at a fundamental level by philosophy, science and religions associated with the modern world view (Durand, 2000; Moore, 1997). In order to intervene effectively in this world or “reality” we need to understand it, and this understanding is intrinsically linked to our world view. Modernism thus allowed predictions of the future and certainty about knowledge. This single-minded approach to and understanding of the world, combined with political power, was often detrimentally exerted over people and nature by those “claiming to know the objective reality” (Swilling, 2002: 4). Bauman (1992: xi) describes this disconnection and dominance of human beings over nature as a split between “will-full subject and will-less object”. He elaborates by saying that modernism requires order and that this order is “bound to remain an artificial imposition on the unruly natural state of things and humans” (Bauman, 1992: xv). These statements confirm one of the fundamental perspectives of modernism, namely to be human one has to be rational, and certain aspects of human[nature] – at the time – were not regarded as human, but madness. This study thus explores themes that seem to oppose rationalism and empiricism6, insofar as it perpetuates modernistic dualities and the exclusion of other forms of knowing. In today’s complex, postmodern world, modernism’s fragmented thinking, über-rationality and absolute ideas about knowledge, science and the world thus do not provide a comprehensive understanding of, and answers to, the environmental and social-ecological crisis(!) of our times any more. The world has become relational. Cilliers (1998: 113) describes this relational world as follows: “The obsession to find one essential truth blinds us to the relationary nature of complexity, and essentially to the continuous shifting of those relationships.” In this postmodern world, knowledge cuts across boundaries and disciplines (Lyotard, in Cilliers, 1998: 114) and, in the words of Swilling (2002: 10), provides social science with a way forward that “avoids the extremes of hopelessness and certainty, and brings the natural sciences a lot closer to the intricacies of life”. Systems thinking and ideas on holism provided a drastic shift that moved our thinking and understanding closer to the complexities and intricacies of today’s world. Von Bertalanffy’s (1950, in Moore, 1997: 585) system’s theory played an important role in moving major approaches from reductionism to holism, across most major disciplines. This idea – of grasping the world in its integrated wholeness, as a system, as an ecology – is long standing. For example, cybernetics (Bateson, 1972), an ecological approach or world view (Capra, 1996; Naess, 1972) and systems theory (Von Bertalanffy, 1950). These approaches share mutually supportive and recognisable epistemologies and could be grouped together under the banner of an ecological approach (which also has its distinguishing epistemology, 6. Empiricism, as scientific-philosophical view, is based on the assumption that experience through sensory observation is the only source of true knowledge, and rationalism assumes that human reason is the source of all knowledge (Meyer et al., 1997: 583).. 9.

(19) ontology and associated world view). Ecology refers to the fact that all things in nature are interconnected in a complex but systemic manner (Keeny, 1984, in Moore, 1997). Bateson’s cybernetic principles of recursive feedback loops and circuits, which underpin the non-linear information distribution across these complex systems, are some of the most important contributions to the ecological approach. Many authors – from a wide range of fields – (Bateson, 1972; Blewitt, 2006; Capra, 1996, 1982; Cilliers, 1998, 2000; Hattingh, 2002; McDonough and Braungart, 2003; Nicolescu, 2002), are also calling for a new world view from which to solve the current ecological crisis. A world view that inherently supports the interconnectedness between human beings and nature, recognises complexity and systemic interrelations, as well as the interrelationship between human systems (social systems) and their underpinning ecological support base (Berkes and Folke, 2000; Beyers, 2006, Burns et al., 2006, Swilling, 2004). They are, in fact, calling for an ecological approach to understanding and saving the planet. The modern world view in its totality is thus being contested on a number of fronts. From the integrated nature of this study – storytelling (narrative), ecological symbolism, psychology and planning (narratives in planning) literature – the following responses against the modern world view are noted: • Environmental ethics should be taught as it “provides the only answer to environmental problems generated in a neo-liberal economic context.” (Benton and Benton, 2004: 228) • Current intense concern with “landscape in the arts and social theory is seen as a response to the shaking of the modern world view, which has attended the growing awareness of the ecology crisis”. (Gill, 2002:177) • “Our modernistic understanding of entities, like the brain and computers – and not interactions – led to a kind of triumphalism, as if we could eventually explain the creative imagination.” (Bateson, M. C: 2000: vii) • “In modern life we have stripped so many ideas of their emotional energy that we do not respond to them anymore.” (Jung, 1964, :49) • Mind is not separable from its material base, “and traditional dualisms separating mind from body or mind from matter are erroneous. The unit of survival is always organism and environment.” (Bateson, G: 1972: 37) • Key sustainability principles of “circular causality, alongside reflexivity and selforganisation underpin ecological thinking in educational change” (Elliot, in Keiny, 2002: iii). Keiny (2002: 89) notes that integrated, ecological thinking in education is oppositional to the standards-driven curricula characteristic of most “Western” societies. • “We could see that the conventional environmental approaches – even the most wellintended and progressive ones – just didn’t get it.” (McDonough and Braungart, 2002: 15) 3.3 The Human-Nature Connection through Stories The relational and transdisciplinary nature of an ecological world view is expressed very well through stories, narrative and symbolism (Booker, 2004; Jung, 1964; Keiny, 2002). As point of departure, I thus assumed that the generic notions of “symbolism” and “imagination” could provide some clues to a deeper (“ultimate”) human-nature connection, the latter especially for children through stories and storytelling. By making these connections I hope to delve into the creative and deep-seated undertow of sustainability, a dimension of infinite possibilities, complexity and extended science that might link people across cultures, races and knowledge divides. I thus wanted to explore the ways in which imagination, symbols and stories • allow us to understand the formation of some enduring human[nature] connections in sustainability that cut across some of the reigning dualisms of modern society, namely mind and matter, science and imagination (and art), and human beings and nature; • oppose the modern world view in support of a new, ecological world view; • potentially and naturally “just make sense” of the world to children (and adults alike); and • are captured through appropriate education methodologies.. 10.

(20) According to Bruno Bettelheim (1976), in his book entitled The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, fairy tales, myths and folklore allow children to learn about the complexities of their own behaviour, wisdom, as well as the complexities of the world they live in. In the process of growing up, children’s minds “can be opened to an appreciation of all the higher things in life by fairy tales, from which they can move to easily enjoying the greatest works of literature and art” (Bettelheim, 1976: 23). In addition, stories facilitate learning through the concepts of imagination and creativity for children. The literary and academic works of the Afrikaans writer and icon Elsabe Steenberg (1979, 1987) support this idea of learning through stories. She poses that children relate to stories in order to • understand themselves in the world; • relate their “inner” self-world with the “real” world; • nurture their natural and rampant creativity and imagination; and • externalise and/ or concretise fears, frustrations, hopes and joys in stories and images. Her works entitled My Kind en Sy Boek (1979) and Fantasie en die Kinderboek (1987) provide invaluable insight into the iterative literary-psychological links of child development, and the resonance that this development has in stories and learning. Steenberg (1987: 3) warns against moralising children by using obvious and/ or nonsensical characters, environments, contexts and happenings. She advocates the use of fantasy to structure and guide children’s interpretations of the complexity of the world, personal ethics, decisionmaking and behaviour. These are all themes highlighted in sustainability literature, as will be shown in the following section. She specifically mentions the non-linear nature of writing children’s stories, which resonates the non-linear nature of a complex world and the nonlinear nature of learning about sustainability, the environment and ecology. Through stories children not only learn about their complex self and how to conduct themselves in the world, but stories provide “a safe way out”, a way to make sense of an abundance of life’s complexities. Stories thus become maps of inner experiences and world experiences that children relate to through their imagination. Teaching that supports this process of sense-making would thus seem natural in terms of acknowledging the complex, non-linear nature of human life, the world and nature. Stories, similarly, capture the complexity, interconnectedness and transdisciplinary nature of life (Bettelheim, 1976; Booker, 2004; David, 1991; Caduto, 1997). In addition, stories speak to the imagination of children and adults alike. Stories could thus be powerful vehicles for visioning and ethics alike, for manifesting dreams about a sustainable future.. 4. Methodology (Process of Reflection) This thesis is the result of a journey of integrated reflection, observation, experience and research7 throughout the M.Phil. course. It reflects a process of learning and personal cognition, as well as assimilation processes that: 1. Made sense of the diverging – and often contradictory – sustainability debates. 2. Connected the various items of qualitative and quantitative, scientific and metaphysical learning (spread over eight core modules) into a comprehensive meaningful whole. In this process my imagination and creativity, through the use of stories and art, continuously extended “rational” science and integrated these sustainability items of learning into a coherent and meaningful pattern of learning.. 7. Research in terms of the University of Stellenbosch’s requirements for a 50% module and 50% thesis option of the M.Phil – in other words, the completion of eight core modules, related journals, assignments and group work, as well as this thesis. 11.

(21) 4.1 The “Patterns That Connect” The first compulsory module of the course – Sustainable Development – required students to develop a personal position on “sustainable development”. This position, developed as my first academic engagement with the literature, theory and multidimensionality of the concept, still serves as the foundation of the course for me. It is captured as follows: “Sustainable development is seen as a pattern of developmental ethics, priorities, choices and activities where human beings and the environment are interconnected beneficiaries, depending on certain realities (for example, depleted natural resources and human ability to create and develop new technologies), as well as the context (culture, development stages/ priorities, etc.)” (Beyers, 2005: 2). The “patterns that connect”, coined in Gregory Bateson’s book Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity (1979: 78), underpins this position on sustainable development and is seen as both the question and answer in dealing with the concept of sustainable development and sustainability – a new way of thinking, of linking developmental choices with environmental impact. (Beyers, 2005: 2). In the words of Bateson8, “If we continue to operate in a Cartesian dualism of mind versus matter, we shall probably also come to see the world in terms of God versus man, elite versus people, … nation versus nation and man versus environment” [emphasis added]. It is doubtful whether a species having both an advanced technology and this strange way of looking at the world can endure. Bateson’s concern for the segregation, dissociation and dominance inherent in the modern world view – and its consequent way of life – provides the response context for this study. “The context of the alternative is the mainstream” (Alrøe and Noe, 2007: 7). Bateson continues by laying the following foundation theme for this study: “[B]reak the patterns which connect the items of learning and you necessarily destroy all quality.”9 4.2 Reflection through My M.Phil. Process The discovery of “reality” or the “truth” through research has long been practised and debated. Whether a search for the “objective reality” or people’s subjective (meaning) worlds, many criticisms have been logged – since the nineteen sixties – against positivism. In order to align myself with the inherent characteristics of symbolism, narrative and sustainability, which oppose empiricism and positivism, I have to align myself with a methodology that recognises critique of empiricism, such as the reflexive methodology proposed by Alvesson and Sköldberg (2000). These authors (2000: 241) propose a reflexive methodology of work, where there is less focus on what empirical data can tell us about reality, and more about other virtues like creativity (as one example). A reflexive methodology incorporates the following critique: “The critics of empiricism – ranging from historians of science, sociologists of knowledge, psychologists of science and linguistic scholars, to ideological critics and philosophers – claim that culture, language, selective perception, subjective forms of cognition, social conventions, politics, ideology, power and narration all, in a complicated way, permeate scientific activity.” (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 1) All these contextual, subjective and what is often seen as “irrational” elements influence the translation between research and reality. It is important to note that these authors do not shun empirical research, but critique and problematise current, mainstream qualitative research. Their critique includes the contention that qualitative research is not open enough to allow for the complexity of multiple interpretations, and underrates the need for reflection throughout the process of research (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 1-2). Reflexive research typically draws attention to the following processes: • The complex relationship between processes of knowledge production and the various contexts of such processes. 8 9. http://www.global-vision.org/bateson.html - accessed on 15 July 2004 Ibid.. 12.

(22) • The involvement of the knowledge producer. (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 5) These characteristics make a reflexive methodology particularly applicable to this study, as relationships between the fields of study cross dimensions from the intra-personal (psychoanalysis) to inter-personal (ethics and the role of people in nature), and eventually the spatial and geographical (as symbols open space between people and spatially). In terms of the second point, the topic emerged from a personal reflection of my own experience through the M.Phil. process. I am thus intricately involved in this process of knowledge production and research. Aligning with the core themes of symbols and stories (narrative) explored in sustainability, Alvesson and Sköldberg (2000) draw on the metaphoric use of language characteristic to a reflexive methodology. To use Czarniawska-Joerges’s (1992, in Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 283) metaphor, the methodology of this study is thus that of “formulating a mystery and then solving it”. Gergen and Gergen (in Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 243) note that reflection often opposes hypothesis building and testing, as it disallows other forms of knowing that may arise in the process of reflection. I have not formulated a hypothesis or single research question, nor collected specific data to reinforce that, which would be a typical research design. A research design, as opposed to research methodology, is typified by the questions that it addresses (Mouton: 2001: 57), as well as a strong link to the end result. This methodology is thus an exploration that is not tied to a predisposed outcome through a hypothesis and/ or research questions. The research is essentially qualitative. As summarised in Mouton (2001, 195) “a qualitative approach has the potential to supplement and re-orient our current understanding,” thus allowing for feedback and self-assessment throughout the research process. CzarniawskaJoerges (1992, in Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 283) further notes the use of the metaphor “insight gathering” instead of “data collection”. I find this term more appropriate for this study, as this is exactly what happened in the course of working through the literature, interviews and personal experiences/ reflections. Alvesson and Sköldberg (2000) further note that creativity and reflection is found by working in the interfaces, in opposing exclusive, reductionist and pure empirical methodologies. “Reflexivity arises when the different elements or levels are played off against each other. It is in these relations and in the interfaces that reflexivity occurs.” “Reflexive interpretation is the opposite of empiricism and the theoreticism (the use of a single, abstract framework offering a privileged understanding).” (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 249) Knowledge, according to this approach, cannot be separated from the knower, and through interpretation we bring meaning to data and facts (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 1). By rooting a significant part of this study in the psychology of individuals, I hope to show that our knowledge in sustainability is not, and should not be, separated from the knower – that is, it is context-bound. To be reflexive in a methodology thus means to think about the premises of our thoughts, and investigate the way in which the contextual issues – for example, culture and theory – of the researcher interact with what is being researched (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2000: 245). A reflexive methodology thus really works at the connections made between and across fields of knowledge (as is the case in this research). 4.3 Combined Views Due to the transdisciplinary nature of the study, its methodology will necessarily borrow from other fields. In opening up the research method beyond the empirical to new avenues of knowledge, I take the view that we actually partake in science of the unexpected – so-called. 13.

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